In a world where so many are not welcome
You gotta love a store
that provides
unexpected hospitality
of this sort.
See you at Ivy League Stationers
and others spots
along the Trail.
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Why I like New York 14 – hospitality
Filed under New York
Why I like New York 13 – communion at presbytery
Yes.
The Presbytery of New York City has issues.
Presbytery meetings can prove frustrating.
The presbytery experiences
dysfunction
disconnection
disruption
challenges
brokenness.
But …
today as the presbytery gathered one more time,
I had the privilege
to help celebrate communion.
I led the great prayer of thanksgiving
and I helped serve.
I stood there holding the platen
that held the bread
as the members of the presbytery
came forward
to receive the Body of Christ:
people of many races,
people of different ages;
people who walked spryly,
people who used canes;
people I knew well,
people whose names I read from their name tags;
each one my sister, my brother,
all sisters and brothers to each other.
Again and again
my voice cracked,
my tears welled in my eyes
as the wonder
the grace
the love
of it all
near overwhelmed me.
See you along the Trail.
Purple flowers, Rio Grande Nature Center 2
During one visit to the Rio Grand Nature Center.
Tricia, Eric, and I saw an eagle
soaring high above us:
beauty, dignity, power in flight –
a joy to watch
but hard to photograph.
Not so these purple flowers
along the path.
23 October 2009
Rio Grande Nature Center State Park
Albuquerque, NM
Let’s go Bucs!
The Pittsburgh Pirates have enjoyed their best season in years. For a significant part of the season, they remained in the pennant race and then the race for a wild card spot. They faded as the season progressed. Now their record stands at 75-77.
The last time they won 75 games was 2003.
With ten games left to play, they need to win six to have their first .500 season since 1993.
I join the crowds cheering for mediocrity.
Let’s go Bucs!
See you along the Trail.
Preparing for execution in Texas
Too long has passed since I have written about death penalty cases. I grieve the executions I have missed and give thanks for those who have raised their voices against the them.
The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Cleve Foster on Tuesday for his role in the abduction and slaying of Nyaneur Pal a decade ago near Fort Worth. Twice before his execution has come close. Each time he received a reprieve. He maintains his innocence.
Foster and a companion, Sheldon Ward, were convicted of fatally shooting Pal. She seen talking with Foster and Ward at a Fort Worth bar. Evidence indicated that she had been raped and shot in the head.
“Foster and Ward were implicated but never tried in her slaying.”
Foster blames Pal’s death on Ward. At his trial, Prosecutors argued that “evidence showed Foster actively participated in the woman’s killing, offered no credible explanations, lied and gave contradictory stories about his sexual activities with Pal.”
I grieve for Nyaneur Pal and for her family and friends. Her death is a tragedy – an obscenity – as is the death of Rachel Urnosky. Their deaths diminish us all.
However, executing Cleve Foster will not bring Nyaneur back. It will be act of vengeance; it will preclude possible reconciliation. It may even prevent the truth from coming out.
Executions do not reverse horrible crimes. Violence begets violence. We have alternatives.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Human Rights
Purple flowers, guest collection #1
22 September 2012
New York
Peng Leong
People watching
In three-piece suits
and pressed dress whites
and shorts too short to wear
they pass by the Hard Bean Cafe
while Squire Howard
registers participants
for the 2:30 colonial walking tour
and I watch and wonder.
22 September 2012
Annapolis, MD
Reminders
The Easter egg tree
(are they leftover or are they rushing the season)
of the First Presbyterian Church of Annapolis,provides a reminder,
however imperfect,
of the hot air balloons of
Albuquerque;
they in turn,
call to
mind
and
heart
and
spirit,
dear friends
Gladys and J.C.
and wondrous memories
and adventures
and love that never dies
but accompanies us
always.
See you along the Trail
Why I like New York 12 – view from a New Jersey Transit bus
Television and films have turned the city itself into a character;
views from many frames of reference show that reality:
each one expressing and adding to the
depth and breadth of
its beauty and wonder.
A meeting today drew me to Englewood, New Jersey
and this view from the bus.
See you along the Trail.
19 September 2012
Sleep’s refuge
Like a clutter of spiders,
the cold crept over him,
probing old wounds,
prodding old pains.
He stirred; but half-awake
he searched the bed.
Touching nothing,
finding no one,
he remembered, shivered,
pulled the cover tighter,
and sought again
sleep’s refuge.
18 September 2012
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under Poem
Along the Graybeard Trail 